The effect of heavy metals on the enzymatic activity of the soils of Sumgait

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the effect of heavy metals on the enzymatic activity of gray-brown soil in Sumgait. It was found that soil contamination with heavy metals leads to a significant decrease in the activity of microorganisms, including cellulosedecomposing ones. According to the inhibitory effect on the number of cellulosedecomposing microorganisms, metals can be arranged in a row: Рb < Сu < Zn. The decrease in cellulose-decomposing activity under the influence of high doses of Сu was 51%, Zn – 45%, Pb – 54%. A significant decrease in enzymatic activity was found in the presence of heavy metal contamination. With an increase in the amount of lead in the soil, a decrease in the activity of invertase was observed, at the same time, the greatest response to soil contamination with lead was found in the catalase enzyme. Thus, in comparison with the control, an increase in the activity of the catalase enzyme in the presence of lead in the soil occurs at a concentration of 1 MAC, which is more than 33%. A further increase in the values of catalase activity by more than 2.0 times is detected when the lead content in the soil is about 4 MAC. This allows the catalase activity of soils to be used as an indicator of soil contamination of the city of Sumgait with heavy metals, including lead.